Cold Bats End Green Knights' Season

GALESBURG, Ill. - The St. Norbert College 2008 baseball season came to an end with a 6-2 loss in 10 innings to Knox College in a Midwest Conference Tournament elimination game at Blodgett Field.

The Green Knights (25-11) were able to scratch out just five hits in 36 at bats in the game, and ended up hitting .179 in the tournament. St. Norbert had beaten Knox 14-0 and 16-4 in a doubleheader in Galesburg on April 6. Knox, which was 13-23 after the St. Norbert, win, went on to shock Ripon College 4-2 and 5-4 to win the Midwest Conference championship.

Knox plated four runs in the top of the tenth for the knockout blow. The Prairie Fire had two outs and nobody on before a walk and an infield error opened the floodgates. Greg Leibach had an RBI single, followed by another RBI hit by Luke Hunter. St. Norbert then had another infield error that scored two more runs. The Green Knights loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th with two outs but did not score.

The Prairie Fire led 2-0, scoring once in the fourth and once in the sixth. St. Norbert scored once in the seventh on a Knox error, and added another in the eighth when Adam Frost scored on a fielder's choice grounder.

Alex Byrne was the only St. Norbert player to record a multi-hit game at 2-for-5. The Green Knights hit into three double plays and left 10 runners on base.

Jordan Vater took the loss, allowing four unearned runs in the 10th. Sammy Almohandis earned the win in relief for Knox, allowing just one hit in 3 2/3 innings.